Halloween Party Tips

Halloween is upon us again. For some people, it is all about dressing up and attending some parties. For others, it signals the beginning of “Holiday Season” and is kind of like the majorette of the band that is otherwise known as “spend-a-lot”. Obviously, the funnest part of Halloween is dressing up. Unfortunately, it may end up in a lot of personal drama.

The thing is, for most people, inspiration is easy—the creativity to pull off an inspired look is not. For some, it is quite embarrassing to dress up because, well, it hasn’t been imbedded in our culture as Halloween and dressing up for it is still considered “new territory” for the non-partyphile. Add to that the fact that everybody in every single Halloween-inspired event WILL check your costume out; and the pressure is on.

So here is the deal: if you truly want to live it up, Halloween-style this year, I suggest that you throw a Halloween House Party. All you have to do is invite some friends over, ask them to come in costumes and bring some food. Of course, if you plan to play host, you will have to get creative ad decorate your place. And since I know that creativity is not everybody’s strong point, I have gathered up some tips and suggestions from the internet and from the Google of my own noggin’ to give you what I think are the most practical, convenient, and easy-to-pull-off tips for a Halloween party.

First off, you have to decide on a costume. You can search the web for different costume ideas, or simply visit your friendly neighbourhood department store and get inspired from the selection available this year. You will be shocked how different Halloween costumes and masks are each year. In fact, I found it quite surprising that none of the department stores sell fake fangs anymore. I guess Edward Cullen made the fanged vampire look passé. So if you plan to purchase a costume from some store, do not go there with an idea in mind. I tell you, you will be disappointed and end up buying other stuff.

However, if you plan to scour your closet to look for things that are costume-worthy, here are some of my tips:

Costume: You can come as a hunchback. Obviously, it isn’t very politically correct, but this has never been a column that considered that before. If you want to dress up as a hunchback, all you have to do is grab a backpack, fill it with clothes, wear it on your back, and then wear a large jacket over it. Zip the jacket up and voila, your look is done.

Costume: If you want to dress up as something kitschy, you could go as a Cereal Killer (Serial Killer, get it?). Simply wear a white shirt, splatter fake blood or red paint all over it, put a cereal box in the middle of the shirt and stab it with a plastic knife. Done. Easy. Cute.

Costume: You could also dress up as the Octo-mom. You know, the woman who gave birth to eight babies at the same time? She became a US Tabloid favorite last year, so she actually counts as a pseudo-celeb costume inspiration. All you have to do is look very pregnant by stuffing clothes or a huge ball under loose clothes or a maternity dress, wear a black wavy wig or set your black hair to give it soft curls and wear some wax lips. If you can’t find wax lips you could simply wear very read lipstick and over-draw it around your lips (the woman has lips larger than Angelina’s).

Food is one of the things that can definitely set the mood when it comes to Halloween parties. Although people expect some sort of creep-fest on your table, it still has to be edible. If you are going potluck, here are some suggestions for you:

Food: Bloody Fingers: All you need to do is buy some lady fingers (although local Camachile cookies work better) and smear some strawberry jam on one end of each cookie. Carefully place white pumpkin seeds on each cookie tip, using the jam as your glue, and you will end up with cookies that look like bloody fingers.

Bat Wings: Buy or make some fried chicken wings and then download a recipe for Buffalo Wings glaze. If you can’t find one you like, you can use some pre-made Barbeque Sauce or a mixture of Ketchup and Liquid Seasoning. Then, add a generous amount of Green and Blue Food Coloring or Dye to the glaze and mix it well until the glaze looks Black. Then, put your fried chicken in a large plastic container, add the glaze and shake the container until all fried chicken pieces are coated evenly. These wings will taste like fried chicken with sauce but will look blackish-green if you make it right.

Food: Paella Negra is something that you can make yourself or purchase from a store. It has nothing scary in it except for the fact that it uses Squid Ink for its sauce. If you don’t feel like eating rice for Halloween, you could also use make some Squid Ink Pasta, or if you are going Pinoy, some Adobong Pusit.

Food: You can not go wrong with grilled Pinoy favorites like Isaw (intestines), Betamax (grilled pig’s blood), Adidas (grilled chicken feet), and Helmet (grilled chicken heads). You could also serve the trusty Dinuguan (stew made with pork blood and pork innards) and Puto (rice cakes) or some Bijod and Bagaybay (Tuna eggs. I don’t know which one is the tuna testicle and which one is the tuna caviar; and honestly, I don’t really want to know).

If you make them the right way, your drink will get you drunk and will put your friends in a party-mood. This is why it is really important that you serve good alcohol with your food. Of course, you can’t skip this element of the party. You must make your drinks Halloween-worthy as well.

Drinks: Jello shots are always fun and festive. Make some black and orange jelly as per the instruction on the box, but leave out some amount of water from the recipe. Before you place your jelly in olds, add some vodka. You must add as much as the water you left out and remember not to cook or boil the vodka with the jelly as it will cause it to lose its alcohol. Then, transfer your gelatine into condiment cups or any Halloween inspired mold.

Drinks: Okay, so this isn’t really a drink suggestion; but it is definitely a fun way to make your drink extra festive! If you want to add a little creep factor to your drink, you can make ice with little bugs in it. Simply purchase plastic bugs and then place them in ice cube trays. Fill the tray with water and freeze. Use these ice cubes for your Halloween party.

Drinks: If you want to make some “Slime Punch” all you need to do is prepare a drink with two parts lemonade (instant or fresh) with green food coloring, one part soda water or lemon-lime soda, and one part vodka. Then, crush some green jelly and drop it in your punch.

Drinks: If you want something creepy floating in your punch, you can make some floating hands. Simply purchase surgical gloves, wash them completely, and then fill them with water and tie the end. Freeze them until you are ready to use them. Before serving the punch, peel the surgical glove off and dip your icy floating hand in the punch.

To finish your party off, you must put extra effort in decorating. It sets the mood of the party and must therefore look really cool and kitschy.

Decors: You can go simple. Attach pieces of orange and black crepe paper on your ceiling, and you are done. If you want to dress it up a bit, you can also go ahead and attach some black bat-shaped pieces of cartolina.

Decors: Most people just decorate their tables and ceilings for Halloween, I suggest you also consider your floor. Spread orange and black balloons across the floor or fill it with water based splatters of red paint.

Decors: You can also put some black lights in your venue and draw some creepy stuff on a black cartolina or the black side of an illustration board using highlighters. These creepy messages will glow once you turn your black light on.

Catch Confessions of a Partyphile on the radio every Wednesday evenings from 6 to 9 in the PM on 105.9 Mix FM or www.mixfm1059.com. For comments, suggestions, and more confessions from this partyphile you can log on to http://party.i.ph or tweet the columnist at twitter.com/zhaun.

Drink of the Week: Slime Punch

Since it is Halloween season again, I decided to give out a recipe for a simple slime punch.

All you have to do is prepare some Lemonade, drop some green food coloring or food dye in the drink, and then use it to fill half a punch bowl with.

Add some Sprite, 7Up, Ginger Ale, or Soda Water to fill the remaining 1/4 of the punch bowl, and some vodka.

Buy or make green jelly and crush it using a fork or knife then dump it in the punch.

If you want to make the punch drinking experience extra festive you may:

• grab some surgical gloves, wash them thoroughly and then fill them with water. Freeze them and peel the gloves off when you are ready to serve. This will give you hand-shaped pieces of ice
• you may also put some raisins in your ice cubes before freezing them to give your ice cubes an eerie feel

Halloween Three's

Top three Halloween costumes that are easy to do:

1.) Swine flu: Simply attach a pig’s snout on a surgical mask and wear it with any regular outfit.
2.) Twitter timeline: Paint a piece of illustration board in baby blue, wear it around your neck, attach white pieces of blank paper, photos, and the twitter bird. Ask people in the Halloween party to write tweets on your “timeline”
3.) Octo-Mom: Dress up as a very pregnant woman with long wavy black hair ad very thick lips.

Top three Halloween Movies:

1.) Exorcist
2.) Texas Chainsaw Massacre
3.) Saw Series

Top three Halloween food:

1.) Paella Negra: just order or make paella with squid ink for the sauce
2.) Bloody Fingers: Buy lady fingers and add strawberry jam at the tip of each cookie and use the jam as glue to hold one pumpkin seed per cookie
3.) Buffalo wings: Simply add blue food colouring to your buffalo wing glaze before you coat your chicken wings with it

A Little Too Much, A Little Too Often ( A Poem About Aging Gracefully)

I know this is a departure from the things I usually write, because obviously, this is a party blog. However, as i was brushing my teeth tonight I thought about aging gracefully. I thought about what it really meant, and how a gracefully aged person should/must look like.

So here is a poem presumably written by the 70 year old version of my self.

A Little Too Much, A Little Too Often

A Poem About Aging Gracefully

Aging gracefully without a scar, a wrinkle, or a flaw is akin to a clock that only tells time for it’s self.

Without a blemish or a fault, it is used by many as the measure of timeless beauty

A little too much, a little too often.

But to age with grace by the measure of the skin is not the same as to age with grace by the measure of the soul.

Although different like the sun and the moon, these two standards often merge indiscernibly in man’s psyche

A little too much, a little too often.

And I have stared in the mirror and realized that my body holds marks, not of battle scars, but of memories worth keeping.

Filled with beauty and pride, I have contemplated my life through these so-called flaws

A little too much, a little too often.

I look in the mirror and I find parallel marks on my forehead.

These folds on my skin remind me that I thought about you, studied you, focused on you

A little too much, a little too often.

I stare at myself staring back at me and I see wrinkles around my mouth.

They remind me that I spoke kind words to you, laughed with you, and smiled because of you

A little too much, a little too often.

I look down at my reflection and see my scarred and blemished hands.

They remind me that I held you, caressed you, and worked for you

A little too much, a little too often.

I look in the mirror and I see to my delight the corns and calluses on my feet.

They remind me that I walked with you, I was beside you, I was with you every step of the way.

A little too much, a little too often.

This image of me across a pane of glass reminds me about aging with grace and beauty.
It reminds me that I have achieved it because I have lived my life not for myself but for another, for the other, for you

A little too much, a little too often.

Things You Should Do During Oktoberfest

During Oktoberfest most people simply booze up. However, I don't think that this is the essence of Oktoberfest. In my opinion, the Oktoberfest is all about creating new experiences that involves beer. Here are four suggestions that you may do during this Oktoberfest:

1. Try using a beer bong
2. Try at least three beer brands you have never tried before
3. Try making beer ice cubes by putting some beer in ice trays and using that as ice for your beer, or create blended beer by blending those ice cubes. If you want something more exciting, try making beer popsicles.
4. Try drinking beer by Depth Charge
5. Throw beer pot luck. Require all your guests to bring different kinds of beer.

Drink of the Week: Baltimore Zoo

If you want to check out one of my previous cocktails that features beer, you may check out this link for the Baltimore Zoo

It is strong, refreshing, and is perfect for oktoberfest

Click here for the link

Beer Facts

http://confessionsofapartyphile.blogspot.com/2010/06/reasons-why-beer-is-better-than-human.html

Beer is the third most popular drink in the world, right after water and tea

If you want to get rid of the foam on top of the beer, simply stick your finger in it.

If you don't want your beer bottle to stick to the napkin, sprinkle a little salt before putting your drink down

When you are bored and want to see something fun, simply throw some salted peanuts in some beer and watch them dance.

When you take a bottle of beer that has sat inside the freezer for quite some time, strike the bottle with a piece of coin or spoon right after opening it. This will turn your beer into slush.

Drink of the Week: Danger and Cloudy Day

Beer is one of the most common drinks we enjoy and because it is delicious, we enjoy it in large quantities. But because we always drink it, it can get tired. So here are two other ways you can enjoy some beer

Danger

Danger is a cocktail that involves two simple ingredients. All you have to do is grab a tall glass, fill it halfway with ice, add a shot of vodka and then fill it to the brim with beer.

Cloudy Day

Cloudy Day is an exciting cocktail that mixes two of the best drinks: Beer and Tequila. All you have to do is open a light beer, drink some of it so the neck of the bottle is empty and then add a shot or two of Tequila. Add a squeeze of lime or calamansi and then stick your thumb in the bottle's mouth and turn it upside down to mix all the ingredients well. Serve and enjoy.

Partyphiles Ask

Since we are celebrating Oktoberfest, I have asked my friends to pitch in some beer-related questions. I searched Google for the answers.

Facts about beer: it is the oldest alcoholic beverage in the world and is the third most popular beverage after water and tea.

Dorothy Falcon asked: what is beer made of?

Answer: It is made from malted cereal grains, most commonly malted barley or malted wheat. It is usually flavored with hops (which lends the bitter flavor to the beer)

Dann Basilio: where can I buy the cheapest beer?

Answer: in Davao City, your best bet is the friendly neighborhood sari-sari store or right from the factory. The cheapest beer I've purchased was in Jupiter Street in Makati at a place called Top Grill. They sold 5 bottles of Red Horse for only 99 pesos.

Alf Rae Tan: is Red Horse the strongest beer? What beer is the mildest?

Answer: in the Philippines, Colt 45 is probably the strongest beer with 7.2% alcohol. However, this does not even come close to the world's strongest beer. It is made by Scottish brewery named Brewdog and is called "The End of History". It has 55% alcohol. It is also said to be the world's most expensive beer, ranging from $500 to $700.

Jeremy Yap: what is the proper way of drinking beer?

Answer: first of all, always store your beer in the fridge, ad in an upright position to prevent oxidization. Use a cold glass or beer mug when drinking beer, and do not add ice as it waters your beer down. Next, pour the beer high above the glass to give it some bubbles. Connoisseurs usually suggest three-fingers worth of head. "Head" refers to the bubbles. It must be as thick as three of your fingers.

Lish Falcon: which country consumes the most beer?

Answer: the Czech Republic consumes about 158.1 liters of beer per person each year. That's about 400 ml of beer everyday.

Doy Bijis: why do people act stupid when they drink beer?

Answer: When beer or any type of alcohol hits your cerebral cortex, you start being more talkative and less inhibited. Once it hits the hippocampus it causes memory loss and exaggerates your emotions. One it hits your cerebellum, it makes you lose balance and coordination.